After a wildly successful and buzzed-about debut full-length, Devil is Fine, spiritual mastermind Manuel Gagneux of Zeal & Ardor is back with a new single and album announcement. The single, “Gravedigger’s Chant,” is slated for release this Good Friday ahead of a sophomore album entitled Stranger Fruit due out June 8th. And to say it’s a simply a dark and moving track is an understatement. Fueled by the gravely, groove-infused voice of Gagneux, driven by incredibly percussive piano, and layered with a sense of an incredibly uplifting-yet-foreboding spiritual crusade, this track is setting the bar incredibly high for Stranger Fruit.
Gagneux explains: “The gravedigger’s chant is the song sung by the people who lay your body to rest. These people don’t care where you were, but they know what you did and who loved you. All they know is what lies before them. So they sing this song since you can no longer breathe a note.”
“Our intent is both to familiarize as well as alienate. The video of “Gravedigger’s Chant” subverts roles: People find themselves in situations untypical for their ilk, tools become weapons, weapons turn into tools, and fingers meant for sensing make themselves felt,” continues Gagneux.
Accompanied by an equally eerie video, the single offers a grim glimpse towards what to expect from Stranger Fruit, a 16-track epic that is sure to take listeners on a bleak adventure into darkness. Preorders for the album are available now.
Stranger Fruit Track Listing:
“Intro”
“Gravedigger’s Chant”
“Servants”
“Don’t You Dare”
“Fire Of Motion”
“The Hermit”
“Row Row”
“Ship On Fire”
“Waste”
“You Ain’t Coming Back”
“The Fool”
“We Can’t Be Found”
“Stranger Fruit”
“Solve”
“Coagula”
“Built On Ashes”
